NSCI 200 Lecture Notes - Lecture 5: Pipette, Lipid Bilayer, Membrane Potential

• School: McGill University
• Department: Neuroscience
• Course: NSCI 200
• Professor: Ed Ruthazer

Document Summary

Dendrites are not as good to conduct ap as axons. The potential decreases and diffuses somewhat on its way to the cell body. Thus, when it reaches the cell body, it rarely triggers an ap, and the neuron is capable of recieving mutiple signals, integrate them and decide if the sum is large enough to cause an ap down the axon. Passive electrical properties: properties of the membrane which allow neurons to conduct electrical impulses without the use of voltage- gated ion channels (leak channels): rm (membrane resistance): *most important* amount of leakiness due to ion channels. What is affected b passive properties: magnitude of membrane potential change after current enters, time course of membrane potential change after current enters. To determine rm, block ap with ttx and tea and put current in the cell. Record the voltage change of varying amounts of current, and use them to determine resistence of the cell.